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It's the crappy camera though, makes it harder to compare with countries that have the legitimate Street Views. Anyway, zona colonial looks pretty poor and ignored. Not what I expected. But the areas on the western side of the city look nicer than I thought

It's the crappy camera though, makes it harder to compare with countries that have the legitimate Street Views. Anyway, zona colonial looks pretty poor and ignored. Not what I expected. But the areas on the western side of the city look nicer than I thought

Zona Colonial looks quite similar in person as well. Functional, but neglected from any aesthetic standpoint.

I just google mapped that. That's interesting as I've never heard of Sincelejo, but as drop the google map guy on the city, I can see the similarities.

Yes its not such a well known city in the middle of the Caribbean plains but I was quietly impressed when I passed by on my way to Medellin from the Caribbean back in 2010, especially some of the eastern portion of the city. Obviously SD is bigger and more developed but there's an air of similarity about it. The street view images are from 2013 and as I understand it Sincelejo has gotten substantially better although still very much under the radar nationally.

I personally don’t see the similarities between Sincelejo and Santo Domingo. Sincelejo has the hallmarks of a Colombian city (the styles of the sidewalks is a big giveaway). I just don’t get the Dominican vibe by looking at the GSV images.

Obviously there are other factors that enhances (or reduces) the attractiveness of any city and these things are not visual, so photos will never transmit them. I’m talking about the ambiance created by the culture of a place, the music that’s everywhere, the mannerisms of the people, their warmness, the food, etc. Even the physical beauty of the people, the sensual style they dress, their energy, their frequent smiles, their accent, all of that adds to a city. Maybe when all of that is added Sincelejo resembles Santo Domingo, but I haven’t been to Sincelejo so I can’t speak from experience.

I will tell you this, Sincelejo is now on my list of places to visit, even if it’s for an overnight thing before heading somewhere else.

Obviously the area with the greatest similarities is found in the historic district (officially named Colonial City or Colonial Zone, although most of the buildings from the Spanish era that survive are mostly in the eastern part of the Colonial Zone, especially between the street of Arzobispo Meriņo and the Ozama River). The eastern part of the Colonial City is where the greatest concentration of Spanish Colonial architecture is found (especially Spanish styles from the 1500īs), including unique structures in the Western Hemisphere (example, the Catedral Santa María La Menor isnīt just the oldest cathedral in the New World, but also the only truly Gothic -all other churches in our hemisphere that have a Gothic look are in fact Neo-Gothic, Santo Domingoīs cathedral is the only one built in the Gothic era).

The areas that many people, especially those that have never been to southern Spain and the Canary Islands, perhaps donīt associate with Spanish architecture are much of the rest of the Colonial City (most of the buildings east of calle Arzobispo Meriņo were built in the late 1800īs and during the first half of the 20th century) and neighborhoods outside the colonial walls such as Ciudad Nueva or San Carlos or Villa Francisca and many other areas mainly inbetween of avenida Máximo Gómez and the Ozama River. The predominant architectures in these areas are Spanish Modern and Art Deco. This is the same architecture thatīs seen in many areas of southern Spain and in the Canary Islands. Those are also the areas of Spain (Andalucia and Canary Islands) that have the greatest influence in Dominican society because most of the Spaniards that moved to the island in colonial times were from there. A quick comparison of these areas of Santo Domingo and many towns in the Canary Islands will easily bring to light the similarities.

One thing you will notice is that the Spanish Modern architecture that is seen in Santo Domingo also has ample examples in other cities and countries that also received large numbers of Andalucians and Canarian Spaniards, such as many cities and towns in Cuba and in Puerto Rico.

Here are a few quick comparisons of Spanish Modern and Art Deco architecture.

The rest of Santo Domingo has traces of US influence, but the overwhelming influence in the architecture is, again, those of Spanish origin. The samething is evident in other Dominican cities and towns, except that many, particularly on the coast, in addition to the overwhelmigly Spanish styles also show evidence of English (introduced from the British Caribbean, especially whatīs locally known as Victorian architecture but in reality its English Gingerbread) and French influences.

One big thing I've noticed is that Zona Colonial is the height and focus of Santo Domingo as far as tourism goes. But in San Juan, that just looks like a street somewhere on the periphery. Meanwhile in San Juan you have those beautiful buildings that are so much more photogenic.

In short, I wish Santo Domingo had more of what San Juan offers as a whole.

One big thing I've noticed is that Zona Colonial is the height and focus of Santo Domingo as far as tourism goes. But in San Juan, that just looks like a street somewhere on the periphery. Meanwhile in San Juan you have those beautiful buildings that are so much more photogenic.

In short, I wish Santo Domingo had more of what San Juan offers as a whole.

Thereīs not much difference between Santo Domingo and San Juan, except that San Juan has an even greater American influence in its layout than does Santo Domingo. Despite that, the Spanish styles and styles derived from the Spanish predominates in San Juan and in PR overall. I havenīt posted any images of the peripheral areas of San Juan, but rather of the city proper. In fact, the neighborhood is right next to Condado, which is the main touristic neighborhood in the city.

As for Old San Juan, there are many buildings that are beautiful, but the colonial core of San Juan isnīt as old as Santo Domingoīs. The city itself was founded a handful of years after Santo Domingo, but aside from the two fortresses and literally 2 or 3 other buildings, thereīs not much left from the 1500īs. The main church in Old San Juan, where Spanish conquistador and PR first governor Juan Ponce de Leon is buried, dates to the 1700īs, as does much of the colonial vestiges that have survived. The number of museums in Old San Juan is also considerably less than in Santo Domingo. Old San Juan is nice for taking photos and the social ambiance is very interesting, but the value of the place from a historical point of view (based on the very limited number of buildings from the 16th century that survives) isnīt as great as Santo Domingoīs.

A similar situation exist in Old Havana. For example, the main church dates to 1777. Old Havana is very beautiful, but it doesnīt have even half the number of buildings that date from the 1500īs as does Santo Domingo.

When it comes to Santo Domingoīs Colonial City, there is no competition in the Spanish Caribbean (or the Caribbean in general if we take into account that the English/French/etc didnīt start their colonization of the islands until the 1600īs, which is the 17th century) for the number of buildings from the 16th century that survives. There are simply more palaces from that era, the very beginning of modern civilization in the Western Hemisphere. There are also many examples of architectural styles built within their architectural era that exist only in Santo Domingo and nowhere else outside of Europe (Santo Domingoīs main cathedral is a perfect example of this). On top of that is the value of many of the buildings for being the very first of their kind built on this side of the Atlantic (Santo Domingoīs main cathedral dates to 1521-1540, for example; or the various homes of several Spanish conquistadors which still stand). Santo Domingo was, in effect, the most important city in the hemisphere in the 16th century (much more important during the first half of the century) and itīs amazing that most of its main buildings from that era survive to our day.

The biggest issue in Santo Domingoīs colonial core is the condition of the streets and the lack of maintenance in many of the secondary colonial buildings. But, thatīs an issue that is being addressed. The first phase is already complete and itīs easy to tell what streets were included in that phase. The second phase is suppose to start next year and thereīs a third phase that is in the works.

I like the three major colonial cities of the Spanish Caribbean (Havana, San Juan, and Santo Domingo). Each have their enchantment and San Juanīs colonial core is the best maintained of the three. But, other than improving on maintenance, I donīt wish for any of them to be different from what they are.

Lastly, the historical value of Santo Domingo for its unparrallel concentration of structures from the 1500īs, the additional value of those structures for the role they were witness to, is simply priceless. A person needs to be well versed on the history in order to fully appreciate historical places beyond the photo opportunities. Not to mention that a place becomes more photogenic when the owner of the camera knows the value of what he sees. Santo Domingo is very unique in this respect and simply priceless.

Last edited by AntonioR; 10-08-2018 at 08:38 PM..

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